KENYA's big port of Mombasa has been crippled by striking dockers angry about higher government health care deductions, Reuters reports.
Dockers are faced with threats of dismissal from the Kenya Ports Authority because their grievance has nothing to do with the labour contract and they must resume work or lose their jobs.
The Mombasa port is the biggest in the region and handles imports such as fuel for Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia.
Witnesses said a number of cargo ships were not being unloaded, while trucks were unable to enter or exit the port.
The workers are protesting against higher deductions for the government's national health insurance scheme, officials said.
Dockers first paralysed operations at the regional trade gateway on Sunday but later returned to work after union officials told them they had been invited to a meeting by government and port management to seek a solution. The strike then flared up again on Wednesday.
Container traffic through the port grew 11.9 per cent in 2014, helped by its expanded capacity and new infrastructure built to shorten the turnaround time for ships.
PORTS
03 July 2015 - 20:07
Kenyan authorities say striking dockers to be sacked if not working
KENYA's big port of Mombasa has been crippled by striking dockers angry about higher government health care deductions
PORTS
03 July 2015 - 20:07
Kenyan authorities say striking dockers to be sacked if not working
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